London Buses Route R3
London Buses route R3 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Orpington and Locksbottom, it is operated by London General. History Route R3 commenced operating on 18 August 1986 between Petts Wood Station and Orpington War Memorial via Petts Wood Road - Poverest Road,Kent Road - Lower Road - High Street Orpington - double run via Orpington Station - Repton Road - Eton Road - The Highway - Chelsfield Station - Windsor Drive - Vine Road - Worlds End Lane - High Street - Green Street Green Rose & Crown - Cudham Lane North - Cudham Lane South - Knockholt Main Road - Knockholt Road - Knockholt Station - Watercroft Road - London Road - Wheatsheaf Hill - Orpington By Pass - Court Road - Spur Road as a Monday to Saturday service. The route was initially operated by Roundabout from their Orpington (OB) garage using Robin Hood bodied Ivecos and Optare Citypacers. The route was introduced to replace withdrawn route 284. On 11 August 1990, the Robin Hood bodied Ivecos and Optare Citypacers were replaced by Carlyle bodied Mercedes Benz 811D's. On 16 November 1991, the route was rerouted in Chelsfield to operate in both directions via Warren Road and `The Meadway to Windsor Drive. On 21 November 1992, the route was rerouted at Green Street Green to terminate in High Street instead of Rose and Crown and was rerouted at all times via Orpington Station. The route was extended in the evenings from Chelsfield to Green Street Green. On 2 December 1995, the route passed to CentreWest operating from their Orpington (Y) garage with Marshall bodied Mercedes 811D's. On 8 November 1999, the route was converted to low floor using Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLFs. On 1 December 2001, the route was retained by First London. At same time, the route was withdrawn between Orpington and Green Street Green, this section was covered by route R1, the route was diverted to Chelsfield Village via withdrawn route R8 (Charterhouse Road) and was extended from Petts Wood Station (east side) to Locksbottom via Petts Wood, Coppice Estate (Lovelace Avenue, Whitebeam Avenue, Almond Way, Faringdon Avenue, Chesham Avenue, Shepperton Road), Towncourt Lane and Crofton. On 25 September 2004, the route was extended from Locks Bottom to Princess Royal Hospital. On 8 December 2007, the route was included in the sale of First London's Orpington (Y) garage to Metrobus. The allocation was transferred to Orpington (MB) garage at the same time. On 3 December 2011, the route was retained by Metrobus with Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLFs introduced. In July 2014, the Go-Ahead Group restructured its bus operations, which included the transfer of Route R3 from Metrobus to Go-Ahead London. On 1 April 2017, the route was retained by London General using Wright StreetLites and the route was withdrawn between Chelsfield and Orpington. The route was re-routed via Amherst Drive area instead of direct via Poverest Road at the same time. Current Route Route R3 operates via these primary locations: *Orpington Station *St Mary Cray *Petts Wood Station east side *Petts Wood Station west side *Coppice Estate *Locksbottom Princess Royal Hospital External links *London Bus Routes Gallery *Full Timetable (PDF) R03, London Buses routes